The Boschendal Werf Restaurant & Garden

Chef Christiaan Campbell from Die Werf Restaurant on Boschendal whipped up this delicious dish on Friday when I visited the farm for the afternoon. We went for a wander in their incredible kitchen garden with Megan McCarthy (who manages it) to find a few of the ingredients needed. Things like Cape May which were roasted with the carrots, wild rosemary to sprinkle on top and of course the rainbow baby carrots and horseradish root.

It turns out you can make mayonnaise out of fresh oysters and Christiaan uses this as the sauce base for the dish. The fresh oysters – once ground up in a blender, will emulsify with oil-like an egg yolk would, and the result is an unctuous mayonnaise that tastes like the sea. The flavour worked beautifully with the sweet roasted carrots and smoky chorizo sausage. It really is an inspired dish that comes together perfectly with the mix of various flavours and textures. It also looks like it might make its way onto Die Werf Restaurant menu.

I got to taste a few other incredible dishes on the current menu (see pics below) such as the octopus with oyster mayo and peas, the poached egg, bacon, grilled gem lettuce and mushroom dust, and one of the most delicious crème brûlée’s I’ve tasted. The restaurant also offers a shared meal experience with platters brought to the table and will include things such as naturally raised Boschendal Angus beef, glazed lamb ribs, slow cooked shoulder, roasted lamb rump, burnt onions, Romesco sauce or ocean fish en papillote baked in parchment paper, octopus, squid, fillet of line fish, basil, parsley & dill garden herbs, buttered potato mousse and pickled tomato.

Christiaan Campbell is committed to ethical eating and insists that all the meat and poultry served on Boschendal be naturally raised, free of hormones and antibiotics and sourced from pasture-reared, free-roaming animals exposed to natural sunlight. Most of the vegetables that you will find on the menus come straight out of their organic garden. This is farm to table eating at its very best and has become one of my favourite restaurants. There so much beauty in every nook and cranny of this revamped restaurant with spectacular mountain views, it’s a feast for your eyes as much as it is for your palate.

In April they hosted their first Farm to Table Festival and I spent 2 days immersed in the experience.

Roasted carrots with oyster mayonnaise, chorizo and horseradish

How to make this dish (more or less) –

West Coast Oyster ‘mayonnaise’

1 shallot finely sliced
200ml white wine
5 x medium oysters (meat & juice of)
Salt & fine white pepper
150ml good quality sunflower oil

In small saucepan combine wine and shallots and simmer until the wine is completely reduced. Set aside to cool.

Add shallots wine reduction to blender with the oysters and juice and blitz the mixture smooth. Slowly add the oil as if making a mayonnaise

Once it has emulsified, add salt and pepper to taste.

Roast the carrots with olive oil, seasoning and Cape May (or thyme if you can’t get this) until caramelised and cooked through. Grill the wild rosemary and finely chop. Finely chop the chorizo.

Assemble the dish with the oyster may on the bottom, covered with roasted carrots. Sprinkle over the chopped chorizo (about 2 – 3 tablespoons) and sprinkle the wild rosemary. Grate a touch of horseradish over the top to finish it off.